How Do I Report an Underage Facebook Profile?

Introduction

Many social media platforms implement age restrictions to protect minors from violent and explicit content due to exploitation. Facebook is one example of a platform that upholds a 13-year-old age minimum to create a profile and submit posts to the homepage feeds. The company takes the rule seriously and works to restrict underage users from account ownership. However, not everyone is caught, and other users usually don’t contact Facebook about minors under the legal age requirement running a profile. The reality is that the majority of children and adolescents find multiple workarounds, evading a scan by an automated detector.

What You'll Need

Fortunately, Facebook offers an option to users who spot children posting photos or videos of themselves. Filing a report is the most effective way to inform the company of unauthorized activity and policy violations. Although Facebook representatives do not reveal the status of an individual’s report and do not notify underage account holders of a pending review, they do investigate profiles for terms of service violations and may request additional information, including screenshots of images and posts as evidence. If you suspect that a specific user is below the required minimum age, consider reading the following steps to determine how you can file a report.

Visit the Facebook site and log in to your user account.

Search for the Facebook profile of the underage user and click the correct name in the drop-down list.

Navigate to the left-hand side of the profile, choose the three-dot button, and click the ‘Report Profile’ link in the white box.

You should see the report box on the next page. Select the ‘Something about this profile’ link under the ‘What do you want to report?’ title.

Click the ‘Something Else’ link and then the ‘Report an account belonging to an underage user’ link.

Choose the blue send button on the ‘Report a Facebook user under the minimum age’ contact form and wait for a confirmation message.

Consider taking a few additional steps after you file your report. First, check to see if the ‘Send’ button has been clicked or tapped, and that you also see a message confirming that your request was sent. Second, avoid sending multiple reports before Facebook responds to your initial report. This can slow down the process and place each of your submissions in a queue due to an overload. Another important factor to remember is that returning to the previous page and clicking the ‘Send’ button again also won’t speed up the review process under any circumstances. And third, remember that you may need to have evidence on hand to prove an underage profile exists and is currently active. Facebook allows its users to submit images displaying suspicious activity.

Conclusion

Some users may experience annoying delays or issues such as system time-outs or website and app loading failures, mainly while attempting to submit a request about an active account used by a minor under 13. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t provide a service number to speak with a live representative. Therefore, if you’re having a problem with a frustrating technical bug, and it won’t resolve itself, consider visiting Facebook’s help center or Meta support for assistance. You can find resources via the help desk, which provides answers to questions about advertising and solutions for other users who experience the same platform glitches.